


blessing; curse

by french_fries



Series: Sordia Soulmate AU [1]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, F/M, Soulmate AU, Viren is a decent person here, sfw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:49:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22175068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/french_fries/pseuds/french_fries
Summary: Soulmate link.For Viren’s family, it was a curse. An unforgiving force that would continue tearing his family apart, limb by limb.
Relationships: Claudia & Viren (The Dragon Prince), Claudia/Soren (The Dragon Prince), Viren/Viren's Ex-Wife (The Dragon Prince)
Series: Sordia Soulmate AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1603801
Comments: 25
Kudos: 31





	blessing; curse

**Author's Note:**

> I've always wanted to play with this concept using the brodigies. I originally planned to write Soulmate AU for another ship from another fandom that's also kind of taboo, but then a thought occurred to me. "What if the link formed between two people who ABSOLUTELY cannot be with each other? For example... siblings?"
> 
> I have always lowkey shipped Soren and Claudia because a lot of their interactions seem so intimate compared to other siblings in the show. They immediately came to mind when I planned for this AU and it had been so much fun to explore! 
> 
> Plus, this fandom needs more Sordia content.

Soulmate link.

For centuries, a part of humanity would be born with a dark mark somewhere on their skin. It was the light that would guide them to the person whom they would spend the rest of their life with. The dark patch would be where their soulmate would touch them for the first time.

Only then would the mark disappear.

How to be born with one, you ask? There had been no definite method to ensure being born with one. However, it had been proven that there was a higher probability for a child of two Soulmates to be born with a mark.

The mark would not ensure a perfect future, but it would provide both parties with perks normal couples would have to work twice to earn. For example, instant understanding and high tolerance. You and your soulmate could be cut from cloth so different nobody would ever imagine you together, but the link would instantly create that mutual understanding. You would find it so easy to accept whatever your soulmate did and vice versa.

No matter how different you were, it’s as if you could read each other’s mind and understand it. Almost like you shared a brain without the desire to fight for it.

The best (or worst) part? The undying love.

No matter how bad your fallout was, you would never stop loving them. And because everything had been made so easy by the link, once you had a fallout with your soulmate, it would be extremely difficult to find a new partner. You would have to work twice as hard, after all.

To some people, finding your soulmate was a blessing. To some, it was a curse.

“Any question?” Viren asked, specifically looking at a certain person sitting on the front row. She was grinning, but didn’t ask anything. He knew she would come to him after everyone went home.

He had received a handful of questions; most of them things he had answered before or had basic understanding of. Therefore, he already had practiced answers for those.

“How is it a curse?” was one of the most popular questions that always arise during every seminar.

“Because it doesn’t let you live in the real word. Eventually, you forget how excruciatingly painful it is to live in the real world. Once you wake up from that dream, all of a sudden everything only weighs you down.” Viren would provide the answer. He would always be called pessimistic. “And you find it draining simply to continue on.”

There were murmurs between the students.

“If you are done with your questions, allow me to tell you this,” Viren started, earning groans from some students who thought the seminar was over. “Having a Soulmark doesn’t make you luckier than others. Do _not_ let people belittle how hard you work to make it happen. Because even with the link, the rate of Soulmates separating is not much lower than that of normal people. It is not shameful to dream about a perfect future. It is not shameful to cry when you cannot find your Soulmate. It does not make you ungrateful, privileged or spoiled. It only proves how much you value what you have and could have.”

Every time he ended with that, Viren would receive a round of applause. Looks of admiration. It was never old how the students’ opinion of him changed in a blink of an eye.

“If you stumble upon any trouble with your link, you know where to find me.” He had distributed his business card in the beginning of the seminar. “My door is always open.”

As the students disperse, Viren went about to gather his papers, only slightly nodding when thanked. The hall was nearly empty when a familiar figure approached him, grinning proudly.

“It was a great seminar, Dad!” Claudia praised, leaning against the podium and giving him that look of admiration. Viren smiled appreciatively as she offered to help him with his things. “I have a question, though,” she said once they were on the move.

Viren opened the door for her before following. “What is it, Claudia?”

Claudia had waited for him before they walked through the hallway together. “So Soren had a case of Fake Mark, right?” Viren’s heart skipped a beat at Claudia’s innocent question but he didn’t let it show.

When Soren was two, his mark had disappeared, and Viren had taken it to tell everyone that he experienced a phenomenon called Fake Mark. It was a rare condition, but it had happened to some people before. When the mark would eventually disappear at a certain age without ever coming in contact with one's Soulmate. Although, it was not Soren's case...

“Is it possible to earn a mark later in life, too?" Claudia asked, snapping Viren out of his thoughts. "I mean, there are still so many things we didn’t know about the Soulmarks, so maybe…”

Viren studied his daughter. He knew she had always adored the idea of soulmates ever since she was a young girl. It was almost like his wife and him being Soulmates and ending up with bitter separation didn’t discourage her from having an optimistic view of the subject.

How very ignorant.

“There has been no record of such thing,” Viren began as they headed to the main entrance and Claudia pouted in disappointment. Viren quickly added, “But, there has been nothing to deny the possibility as well.”

That immediately earned a beam from Claudia. “I know, right! I did my research, too, and couldn’t find anything that negates the possibility.”

Viren noted how delighted she sounded. How hopeful that one day, she would get to experience what she never could. Viren wondered how, after the childhood she had been made to endure, she could still adore the idea of Soulmarks.

He had asked her one day and she had told him, “A lot of things happened and nobody’s to blame. But I know you and Mom had been in love. In fact, you still are. At the same time, I know that not even the force of the universe could have magically mended something that’s not working out.”

So why? Why would she still want such thing?

“When I was a little girl, when you guys were still fine, you would tell me and Soren stories of your youth.” Claudia had smiled fondly at the memory. “I’ve always been sooo jealous because they’re way better than the books I’ve read! I guess I just want that, too. Someday.”

That day, Viren thought about his wife and how happy they once were. How perfect their life and marriage was until…

“I messaged Soren a while ago to pick us up,” Claudia informed, producing her phone from her jacket to check if there was any new message. “He should be here soon.”

Viren saw her grinning before she showed him the screen of her phone. It was a selfie of Soren in the driver’s seat with some kind of filter that made him look like he was wearing sunglasses. He pouted his lips to look cool. And the caption was, “Your ride is here, Your Highness ;)”

As she giggled and enthusiastically typed her reply, Viren’s gaze landed on Claudia’s left cheek. Remembering how it was still so red and chubby when that cursed mark nestled there and vanished far too soon. When he closed his eyes, he was in the hospital room. He saw the horror in his wife’s face. The confusion in Soren’s young eyes when his wife and him erupted into panic.

That was the day his perfect family received its first crack of many to come.

Soulmate link.

For Viren’s family, it was a curse. An unforgiving force that would continue tearing his family apart, limb by limb.

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, I initially didn't expect to write this from Viren's perspective. But after moving from many perspectives as I develop the story, I decided that his side would provide the most insight on the situation.
> 
> Well, I hope you guys like the premise? I wrote this piece so it would fit to be a one-shot, but I actually have several chapters already written for this AU for months now. Depending on how many people are interested for more, I might post more chapters. But right now, this story is just a one-shot :D


End file.
